Vanderbilt coach Derek Mason will begin his first fall camp as a head coach on Thursday.

He took some time Wednesday to answer some questions about his summer, gold business cards, his injury information policy and plans for fall camp:

Q: How do you feel like this camp will be different than some of the ones you've been a part of at Stanford and other places?

A: I don't know if I'm really working to do anything to make it different. Camp is camp. Camp is about the daily grind of trying to make sure you can harden your team and find your center. Really create your own mojo and your own synergy through the dog days. That's what camp is about — the hard work, the heat, the whole idea of grit and grunt. I don't think you try to make camp anything, I think camp has a way of evolving itself. All we're going to look to do is get about the work that is single-day practices until we hit double days, and when double days come the bear jumps on their back and we get it moving.

Q: What is the most interesting thing that happened to you this summer? On campus or otherwise?

A: SEC Media Day. Having an opportunity to go there with my daughter and having a chance to sit down there and have an interview with her. It was actually pretty cool, I mean, you don't see it much if you see it at all. I think they said it was the first time in SEC history. That was a pretty cool moment to share. You look at this game and you share a lot of things with a lot of players who are like your children, but to actually spend that time with my daughter was really, really cool.

Q: What are your concerns as you head into camp?

A: I don't get mired in concerns. I just have questions. Concerns are those things that you say 'OK, I'm really worried about it.' Well I'm not really worried about anything. I've tried to look at this football team and say to myself, 'What do we need to do and where do we need to go?' So it's more or less our goals and what we're trying to teach. Are we a physical team? Do we not beat ourselves? Do we understand what situational football is? Do we know how to practice? Can we take care of one another? Those are the things I have to be concerned with — the big-picture items. Football is going to take care of itself. The roster is going to take care of itself. I don't lose sleep over those things.

Q: Who is somebody that not many Vanderbilt fans are necessarily thinking about right now, but when he gets in against Temple is going to turn some heads?

A: I think there are several unknowns on this football team. I think nobody really knows a Jake Bernstein or a Spencer Pulley (offensive linemen), nobody knows (tight end) Steven Scheu. Really, when you look at it, nobody really knows (safety) Andrew Williamson. (Defensive back) Oren Burks — nobody knows who he is. We are a no-name team with a blue-collar mentality. As this season goes along, I think the people will become enamored with this team, because it possesses some characteristics and has some leaders that are synonymous with winning.

Q: Will you try to quantify success in this camp, or is this still about installation and a figuring-out process?

A: Camp is always quantifiable. It's always by how you perform in your first game. But there's things that you want to checklist as you come out of camp. You want to make sure that all three phases and all three units have made progress in terms of where you were last spring to where you want to be heading into your first game. Those things are going to be measured between scrimmages and between competition situational opportunities, whether it's quarterback efficiency in 7-on-7s and team periods or third-down battles or short-yardage goal-line battles between offense and defense for pushups. Hopefully every day our special teams guys get a chance to be put into some special teams situations where they are on the clock so we know what we have. Hey listen, there is nothing worse than finding out that you have hiccups come game time.

Q: The gold business card — where did that idea come from? How do you determine who gets them and who doesn't? Do you have a second set that you give to people to save those expensive ones?

A: There really is no second set. I've got a black-gold card, but the gold business card is something that is entirely different. The gold business card has more to do with recruiting. Obviously, I was asked by a couple of ESPN guys when they were here and I gave some out to get a good idea of what people's opinions of them were. I didn't have many of them, but the thing really sort of took off. The way the gold business cards have been used, it generally goes to an offered recruit and his parents. We call it the golden ticket. It's a different way for me to help engage parents and recruits.

Q: There are different philosophies on how to handle injuries. The previous staff's stance was "we don't talk about it at all." Is that something that you like to keep private or is there a certain amount of information you will put out there?

A: You never disclose injuries. The bottom line is you don't know the extent of the injury, and with HIPAA laws and everything else you put yourself in harm's way. It's university policy and it's national policy about disclosing injuries. So for us, I never see myself divulging any information except like when I know my guy is probable I will say it. If I know he is out, I will say he is out. I'm not going to sit there and play the game with anybody. I don't think there's any games to be play because we've got to get somebody ready to play. Honesty is the best way to go with it.